Pumps

Types of pumps

posted Jun 5th, 2014 by Stan Hieronymus

Despite what all the engineers and pump salesmen will tell you, there really are only two types of pumps; centrifugal and positive displacement. Understand the difference between these two and you are well on your way to understanding pumps. The difference is that centrifugal pumps spins at a high speed and transfers centrifugal or kinetic energy into the liquid in the form of velocity and pressure. The positive displacement pump, on the other hand, transfers a precise measured amount of liquid from the inlet to the outlet for each rotation or stroke of the pump. Let’s look at each.

Sizing your pump

posted Jun 5th, 2014 by Stan Hieronymus

Once you have selected your pump type you have to select the right size. Pick too small a pump and the problems will be obvious but picking too big a pump can be just as bad. Not only are you wasting your money on an unnecessarily expensive pump, but it can beat up your beer. After all the pump wants to move stuff around and if your pump is too big for your lines, it will cavitate and damage your beer, your pump and your lines and…
So to size your pump you need to figure out a few basic things:

Pump components and seals

posted Jun 5th, 2014 by Stan Hieronymus

The main components in a pump are the casing, impeller, backing plate, shaft and shaft seal, and the motor adapter. Some pumps have the backing plate as part of the casing in which case you would have a removable cover.

Pumps

posted Jun 5th, 2014 by Stan Hieronymus

Table of contents

– Types of pumps
– Sizing your pump
– Pump components and seals
– Pumps Q&A